Specific Charge and Mass Flow Distribution in a Colloid Beam.
Abstract
An experimental program established that a multiple needed colloid thruster produces a beam with anisotropic current, specific charge, and mass flow distributions as a function of beam half-angle. Data reduction and analysis indicated that the assumptions of beam isotropy yields valid relative performance but the absolute value of performance determined from the time-of-flight spectrometer is questionable. A segmented time-of-flight collector, consisting of ten electrically isolated rings which could be connected to simulate a total collector, was the primary diagnostic tool. For thrust, specific impulse, and efficiency, results from the segmented and total collector differed by up to 30%. Even larger differences were observed in the case of mass flow. By moving the collector, it was found that the distance between the source and time-of-flight collector has a significant effect on specific charge and current. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1972
- Accession Number
- AD0754902
Entities
People
- Jerrell M. Turner
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory